Kellen SmetanaWow, what a difference! The last three days of riding has been spectacular. Since leaving Wuzhou, a passing freeway has taken all the trucks and buses and left us with just motorcycles, a few cars, and a couple chickens to contend with. We have been cycling on the equivalent of a state highway (G321 to be exact) and in Guangxi it has meandered up and down through fertile valleys stemming off the Lijiang River. Rice paddies, old farm houses, temperate rainforest, and limestone karsts – quite the difference from Guangdong.

G321

The larger towns are still rather dirty and there are people in every corner you peek. But the rest of the ride has been like a quaint farm neighborhood with rice paddies instead of corn fields and water buffalo instead of tractors (admittedly that’s a stretch, but you get the idea…).

Pick-up truck. Probably less ads for these than in US

Fireworks everywhere

Aside from passing motorcycles and their trailing farm tools, we’ve also shared the road with a constant barrage of firecrackers. The last three days has been a Chinese holiday – Qing Ming jie I believe – and people have taken to the hilltops to shoot off fireworks to honor their ancestors. At first we thought it might just be miners working with weak dynamite; that was until we had lunch two days ago and saw a four-year-old stroll past our table with enough gunpowder to take on Rambo. Then we noticed the fireworks storefronts and put it all together. Almost like solving a mystery, I think the fact that we stumbled upon the holiday in such a roundabout way allowed us to appreciate it that much more.

Yesterday evening we pulled into Yangshuo, a popular backpacker stopping point just south of Guilin. About a kilometer outside the city we passed three hikers – Westerners – and realized they were the first Westerners we’ve encountered since Hong Kong. It’s kind of strange how we get so used to riding through the country we don’t even notice how far removed we are. Later in the evening we went out for a beer after dinner and played a few games of pool against three other Westerners. All three were in medical school in Ann Arbor. It’s kind of nice to know how close we are sometimes as well. Go Blue.

The area around Yangshuo and Guilin is full of limestone karsts and the scenery has been unbelievable. Rain yesterday blocked most of our view, but glimpses of the peaks looming in the clouds, almost chasing us along like ghosts as they appeared, made for some exciting riding. The next several days look to be more of the same.

It always feels like... somebody's watching me...

Internet access has been a bit tough as we’ve been camping most nights, but we’ll make sure the posts keep coming!